Will Tunisian revolution inspire actions in other nations? (Now following Egypt.) [ed. title]

Honestly, I’m having trouble remembering exactly where I read that. But it seems like good practice; the leader of the interim government would have tremendous power to rig the election in his or her own favor.

We don’t all get al-Jazeera.

That’s the problem. They don’t know what they want, only what they don’t. When that happens, what comes next could be anything.

I prefer to follow Israeli news sources. They’re as well-versed in Arab politics as anyone in the world, and frankly, IMHO they’re more reliable than a state-owned outlet like AJ.

Its hard to know how much of the looters found with government issued IDs and weapons are acting under orders. Unemployment in Egypt is very high so many potentially viiolent troublemakers were given jobs as security in the hopes that they would use their inclinations in a constructive way. How many are under orders to loot and create the impression that the mobs are anarchistic thieves and need to be cracked down on and how many are opportunistic thugs looking for a little extra to supplement their woeful wages.

I dunno, but an ancient traditional name of Egypt is “The Red and Black Land.” (The Red Land being Upper or Nile-Valley Eqypt, the Black Land being Lower or Nile-Delta Egypt.) But “The Red and Black Revolution” sounds way too anarcho-syndicalist and there’s no doctrine of that kind on the ground here anyway.

Nix. Pyramids are stable.

You can watch their live stream here:

How about “the Reed Revolution”?

Why is it that some Egyptian women wear full-face veils and others just wear headscarves? Just wondering.

And now you do. Enjoy!

“The Papyrus Revolution” sounds more Egyptian.

I assume it’s because some are more religious than others.

Right now, it says Egyptians across the country are defying the curfew for the third night in a row and there are sympathetic demonstrations going on all over the world, including the U.S. and Iran. (Only in Iran, I should guess, are the demonstrations state-sponsored.)

Heh. You like playing with fire there, Iran?

FWIW, this sounds like a slightly clearer step away from Mubarak than I was expecting Obama to give just yet.

That is, they look for there to definitely be a transition now. I guess.

On the other hand, today,

They’ve been issuing official statements in support of the revolution. Apparently the Iranians think replacing an Israel-friendly government with a government that has Muslim Brotherhood support has got to be an improvement from their POV.

I think they may be disappointed.

I hope they’ll be disappointed. I don’t think, from what I’ve read that MB Egypt has the influence to actually come out on top of any new government, but there’s no love lost between the people of Egypt and Israel. I’m hoping the new government will at least retain a neutral stance toward Israel, but it’s up in the air.

Doesn’t mean I don’t support the protesters/revolutionaries…it just means that I’m somewhat wary of the outcome. Mubarak has to go. I think ElBaradei is likely to keep things cool on the border. I just don’t know what happens after the interim gov is replaced by a duly elected slate.

[QUOTE=Mohamed ElBaradei]
The American government cannot ask the Egyptian people to believe that a dictator who has been in power for 30 years would be the one to implement democracy. This is a farce. The first thing which will calm the situation is for Mubarak to leave, and leave with some dignity. Otherwise, I fear that things will get bloody. And [the US] have to stop the life support to the dictator and root for the people.

[/QUOTE]
I guess nothing less would be expected from him.

Also one has to wonder if this seminal moment for ME and world stability will open eyes to an average American, will they see that they’ve been brainwashed to the teeth all these years and decades.

If there is a chance for Obama to bring US out from the perceived decline in the eyes of the World then it must be this opportunity to back up all this talk about ideals of democracy but, alas, he calls for a rag to act as morning dew.